Urban social geography is the study of social and spatial dimensions of city life. In this course, we will explore some of the ways in which urban society is organized geographically. We will also consider how the spatial patterns of urban life influence public policy issues in the American context. Topics covered in this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about gentrification, sustainable suburban development, the transition from government to governance in cities, and the delivery of urban services that affect the education, health and economic welfare of urban populations. Students will learn current research, engage debates about critical urban issues, and learn techniques useful for analyzing spatial patterns in the urban landscape. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 241 or GEOG 261 or GEOG 262

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences Writing WP

Africa is arguably the most rural of our six populated continents, but also the most rapidly urbanizing, with a rate roughly twice the global average. While just over a third of people lived in cities as of 2010, by 2030, over half the population—by that time nearly a billion people—is expected to be urban. The rapidity of this change makes its wider social impacts difficult to predict, and African experiences with urbanization are already challenging many ideas not only about economic growth and urban planning, but even more basic presumptions about what a city is, who its spaces belong to, and what new possibilities (and foreclosures) densely populated areas enable. Rather than simply tracing or predicting the effects of African urbanization, this course takes an anthropological approach by attending to the everyday, intersectional experiences of urban dwellers and using these to help us critically question our assumptions about Africa, its cities, and our world’s future urban dis/connections. We will also focus on topics that allow us to see cities from both elite and less privileged vantage points, exploring the development of new cosmpolitanisms and infrastructural innovations as well as informal settlements, refugee camps, and lives lived across the imagined divide between urban and rural. To these ends, we will draw on a combination of ethnographic sources, literature, film, and popular reporting. An introductory anthropology course (like Anth 101 or 111) is recommended, but not required. Urbanizing Africa counts as a Tier 1 African Studies course.

Since the last century, Asia has experienced rapid urbanization. It is now home to over half of the world's most populated cities. By 2010, the urban population in the Asia-Pacific region has surpassed the population of the United States and the European Union combined. In this course, we will focus on cities in East, Southeast and South Asia. We will first contextualize the rapid urbanization in the region's changing political economy, and identify urban issues that are unique to this region. We will further explore different theoretical approaches to understand Asian cities; several of them challenge mainstream urban theories rooted in the experiences of West European and North American cities. Upon the completion of this course, students will acquire substantive knowledge on contemporary trends of urban development in Asia, and develop familiarity with related ongoing theoretical debates. In addition, students will conduct individual research projects to develop deeper and more concrete understanding of the contemporary urbanization processes in Asia.

Since the last century, Asia has experienced rapid urbanization. It is now home to over half of the world's most populated cities. By 2010, the urban population in the Asia-Pacific region has surpassed the population of the United States and the European Union combined. In this course, we will focus on cities in East, Southeast and South Asia. We will first contextualize the rapid urbanization in the region's changing political economy, and identify urban issues that are unique to this region. We will further explore different theoretical approaches to understand Asian cities; several of them challenge mainstream urban theories rooted in the experiences of West European and North American cities. Upon the completion of this course, students will acquire substantive knowledge on contemporary trends of urban development in Asia, and develop familiarity with related ongoing theoretical debates. In addition, students will conduct individual research projects to develop deeper and more concrete understanding of the contemporary urbanization processes in Asia.

This course connectes with urban social geography, which studies the social and spatial dimensions of city life. In this course, we will explore some of the ways in which urban society is organized geographically. We will also consider how the spatial patterns of urban life influence public policy issues in a North American context. Topics covered in this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about gentrification, sustainable suburban development, the transition from government to governance in cities, and the delivery of urban services that affect the education, health and economic welfare of urban populations. Students will learn current research, engage debates about critical urban issues, and learn techniques useful for analyzing spatial patterns in the urban landscape. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 241 or GEOG 261 or GEOG 262

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences Writing WP

Fall 2018

An introduction to ethnographic field interviewing learned in the context of individually run student field projects. Focuses on the anthropologist-informant field relationship and the discovery of cultural knowledge through participant observation and ethnosemantic interviewing techniques. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 101 or ANTH 111 and permission of instructor.

The large challenges facing us in the 21st century are not going to be solved in one sector. We need creative collaborations and innovative experiments. Change is happening at the intersection of art, science and design. In this class we are going to learn about artist and scientist who are doing things differently and explore how they engage with people, collaborate cross sector, change systems and involve people in the their research. We will use design thinking and prototyping to build new platforms in our cross departmental class. Together we will explore four large topic areas, bring in speakers and go on filed trips across the cities. Each student will have the opportunity to design and test prototypes of their ideas in the public and bring back both their successes/challenges for the class to learn from. The class will end with collaborating on a local issue facing the City of St Paul. As a class working together we will develop a creative plan that will include working prototypes, possible funding sources and how to sustain our idea. The final idea will be present to the city for implementation.

Description: In Britain, multiculturalism has a long and dynamic history. Recent social and political developments (most notably, Brexit) have thrust narratives of nationhood, belonging, hybridity, and multiculturalism back into the limelight. These stories reveal the striking complexity of cultural hybridity in Britain, and they revel in the interconnected experiences of language, nationhood, sexuality, gender, class, and family that form modern British experience. Beginning with the mid-twentieth century, we will trace literary incarnations of British multiculturalism in the literary texts of authors such as Andrea Levy, Zadie Smith, and Kazuo Ishiguro. Through engagement with cultural theorists such as Stuart Hall, we will also work to understand how each text is involved in reshaping the form of the novel itself. Students should also expect to engage with a range of media and hands-on learning, in addition to advanced academic writing.

The large challenges facing us in the 21st century are not going to be solved in one sector. We need creative collaborations and innovative experiments. Change is happening at the intersection of art, science and design. In this class we are going to learn about artist and scientist who are doing things differently and explore how they engage with people, collaborate cross sector, change systems and involve people in the their research. We will use design thinking and prototyping to build new platforms in our cross departmental class. Together we will explore four large topic areas, bring in speakers and go on filed trips across the cities. Each student will have the opportunity to design and test prototypes of their ideas in the public and bring back both their successes/challenges for the class to learn from. The class will end with collaborating on a local issue facing the City of St Paul. As a class working together we will develop a creative plan that will include working prototypes, possible funding sources and how to sustain our idea. The final idea will be present to the city for implementation.

In the minds of many Americans, cities are places where nature is absent-places where nature exists only in the crevices and on the margins of spaces dominated by technology, concrete, and human artifice. This course confronts this assumption directly, drawing on the scholarship from the relatively young field of urban environmental history to uncover the deep interconnections between urban America and the natural world. Among the other things, we will examine how society has drawn upon nature to build and sustain urban growth, the implications that urban growth has for transforming ecosystems both local and distant, and how social values have guided urbanites as they have built and rearranged the world around them. Using the Twin Cities has a backdrop and constant reference point, we will attempt to understand the constantly changing ways that people, cities, and nature have shaped and reshaped one another throughout American history.

This course seeks to explain the evolving pattern of North American cities and their antecedents in terms of the distribution and movement of people and resources as well as the effects of changes in transportation and communication technology. In addition, a careful analysis of the development and internal spatial structure of North American cities will be carried out. Much class time will be spent on discussion of contemporary urban problems such as segregation, unequal investment, and control of urban public space as well as attempts at their solution. We make extensive use of the Twin Cities as a case study. Field work required.

This course allows students to participate in a "real world" application of their GIS knowledge and skills in a collaborative research project setting. Project focus is on urban GIS and questions developed by and for neighborhoods and other community research organizations. Content of the course includes development of the research project, acquisition and utilization of data used in urban analysis, data manipulation and analytical techniques unique to urban GIS, and geographical data visualization. Laboratory work is required. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 225 and permission of instructor.

This course allows students to participate in a "real world" application of their GIS knowledge and skills in a collaborative research project setting. Project focus is on urban GIS and questions developed by and for neighborhoods and other community research organizations. Content of the course includes development of the research project, acquisition and utilization of data used in urban analysis, data manipulation and analytical techniques unique to urban GIS, and geographical data visualization. Laboratory work is required. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 225 and permission of instructor.

In the minds of many Americans, cities are places where nature is absent-places where nature exists only in the crevices and on the margins of spaces dominated by technology, concrete, and human artifice. This course confronts this assumption directly, drawing on the scholarship from the relatively young field of urban environmental history to uncover the deep interconnections between urban America and the natural world. Among the other things, we will examine how society has drawn upon nature to build and sustain urban growth, the implications that urban growth has for transforming ecosystems both local and distant, and how social values have guided urbanites as they have built and rearranged the world around them. Using the Twin Cities has a backdrop and constant reference point, we will attempt to understand the constantly changing ways that people, cities, and nature have shaped and reshaped one another throughout American history.

The readings and assignments in this course are designed to help students understand how social policies and programs contribute to Americans' lived experiences. We will examine various theoretical justifications for the policies that constitute the American welfare state, then confront and dissect major strands of the American social safety net to better understand how political institutions and policy mechanisms contribute to both diversity and inequality in individuals' social, economic and political outcomes (based in race, class, gender, dis/ability, region, political jurisdiction, etc.).

Buildings and the landscape are all around us, but often we take them for granted. This class examines the built environment--the buildings, streets, parks, and communities that we have created--from a political perspective. We explore how architecture embodies the ideals and political tensions of the individuals and societies that create them, and how the physical landscape then shapes the political world. The course includes a survey of themes and landmarks in architectural history, and discussion of cases including 19th century Paris, Nazi Germany, political protests, and contemporary surveillance. Written work will include student explorations around the Twin Cities.

The use of imprisonment as a form of criminal punishment is only about as old at the United States. Currently, 1 in 100 adults in the United States are in prison or jail. How should we understand the growth of this form of criminal punishment? How is it similar to other methods to react to and to attempt to control unwanted behavior? What are the social consequences of these formal institutions of social control? In this course, we examine these developments in the processes and organization of social control, paying particular attention to criminal behavior and formal, legal responses to crime. We study and evaluate sociological theories of criminal behavior to understand how social forces influence levels of crimes. We examine recent criminal justice policies in the United States and their connections to inequality, examining the processes that account for expanding criminalization. Finally, we compare the development of formal, bureaucratic systems of social control and informal methods of social control, paying attention to the social and political implications of these developments.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences Writing WA

Urban social geography is the study of social and spatial dimensions of city life. In this course, we will explore some of the ways in which urban society is organized geographically. We will also consider how the spatial patterns of urban life influence public policy issues in the American context. Topics covered in this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about gentrification, sustainable suburban development, the transition from government to governance in cities, and the delivery of urban services that affect the education, health and economic welfare of urban populations. Students will learn current research, engage debates about critical urban issues, and learn techniques useful for analyzing spatial patterns in the urban landscape. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 241 or GEOG 261 or GEOG 262

This course connects students with urban social geography, which studies the social and spatial dimensions of city life. In this course, we will explore some of the ways in which urban society is organized geographically. We will also consider how the spatial patterns of urban life influence public policy issues in a North American context. Topics covered in this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about gentrification, sustainable suburban development, the transition from government to governance in cities, and the delivery of urban services that affect the education, health and economic welfare of urban populations. Students will learn current research, engage debates about critical urban issues, and learn techniques useful for analyzing spatial patterns in the urban landscape. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 241 or GEOG 261 or GEOG 262

Students are introduced to the issues and challenges confronting American cities today, and the public policy options and remedies city governments employ to address urban problems. Using a historical approach, we trace the origins of machine politics and campaigns against their rule, the evolution of the "urban crisis" of the twentieth century, and the rise of the fragmented urban metropolis. Next, we explore how persistent economic and racial segregation, interurban rivalries, fiscal constraints, and identity politics shape power relationships and local governmental capacities to deliver services and revitalize neighborhoods. Along the way, in simulated challenges, we ask students to present and defend their own policy proposals to urban problems (e.g. fair elections, downtown development, affordable housing, urban sprawl) and, in a longer research paper, investigate how one or two cities have struggled with or successfully addressed an urban challenge. Prerequisite(s): POLI 100 recommended

Courses at ACTC Institutions

Students may use courses taken at other ACTC institutions towards an urban studies concentration at Macalester. The following is a list of courses that may qualify. Students must seek approval from the concentration director to determine how a course will satisfy the concentration’s requirements.